


The End is the Beginning

by TheChosenBetrayer



Series: Immortal Avenger [2]
Category: Journey into Mystery, The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2017-12-15 08:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/847474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheChosenBetrayer/pseuds/TheChosenBetrayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Days, months, years.<br/>That’s how long it took Loki to return to Thor. Not as a man, but a child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hey guys! I'm back...ish xD
> 
> Welcome to the next part of Before Letting Go! I'm working on a lot of stuff and also taking some summer school classes, therefore the updates will be slow so I apologize in advance! 
> 
> ENJOY!

 

_The Aftermath_

Bright torches blazed in the gilded halls of Valhalla. The golden spires of the palace glittered in the light of the everlasting star. The enduring realm of Asgard was once again whole after the events of the battle long since passed, but never forgotten. For every passing of the year, the citizens of the eternal realm celebrated the anniversary of their victory against the Dark Elves and mourned the death of the All Father. But this particular day passed like every other day.

And this day above all other days, Thor hated.

After all this time the ache of everything he had lost that day, in spite of what he had gained since then, was still plaguing his heart. It was like no time had passed at all. Not for Thor. And Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral all knew it.

“He does this every year.” Sif pointed out. They were all three lounging in one of their usual haunts which was one of the palace’s many parlor rooms. Volstagg glanced over his shoulder at her before returning to spread more butter over a fresh, warm slice of bread in order to hide his ‘here-we-go-again’ expression.  

“Why do you expect?” Fandral answered from his spot on the floor. “It’s _his_ birthday.”

“I know, I just do not understand why he has to be like this every year around this time,” Sif complained. “It has been _years_ since _his_ death.”

“Loki was raised as his brother,” Hogun reminded them. He turned to face his companions, “You can’t expect him not to mourn Loki, especially on the day of Loki’s birth.”

“But Loki betrayed us, he betrayed Thor!” Sif argued, her eyes wide with anger. “He shouldn’t mourn the death of a traitor who killed his father and nearly destroyed Asgard!”

“You do not know the depth of Thor and Loki’s relationship and you should not claim to.”

The room filled with silence with only the cracking of the fire disturbing the quiet.

“It’s more than that,” Sif explained in a more subdued manner. “He’s never been the same since that day.”

“Nothing has,” Volstagg allowed.  Silence fell again, this time for a shorter duration.

“Then why don’t we do something? All of us?” Sif suggested, excited by her own idea as she gazed at her companions hopefully.

“Well sure,” Famdral drawled, “if you can get Thor out of his chambers.”

Determination set Sif’s jaw. She wasn’t one to back down form a challenge.

________

Thor sat with his back to the windows as he gazed into the fire blazing in the hearth. He’d been like that for hours, not even caring to move.  No matter what he had done in the past three years, there was no escaping his thoughts. There was no escaping the vivid images of Loki’s eyes as the light left them. Or his father dying in the middle of hall. Or the ache of how much he _missed_ them both. 

But Loki was at the forefront of his mind today.

Thor remembered when he first saw Loki, wrapped in Frigga’s shawl in her arms.

_“What is it, mama?” Thor asked, his eyes as wide and blue as the Midgardian sky._

_“We have another son,” Frigga smiled, kneeling down beside Thor so he could get a better look. Thor placed his little hands on Frigga’s arm as he balanced himself on the tips of his toes to peer down at the squirming baby. The baby looked up at Thor with eyes as green as the leaves in Idun’s orchards._

_Thor looked up at Frigga while he pushed his golden hair out of his eyes. “Is he my baby brother?”_

_Frigga turned her head to glance at Odin, who nodded._

_“Yes,” she smiled. “His name is Loki.”_

Thor shook his head out of the memory only to be replaced by another. A memory he cherished because it was the birthday before everything had fallen apart.

_“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Loki grinned as he sauntered into Thor’s rooms._

_“Your helmet is stupid?” Thor replied trying to hide his own smile. Loki laughed as he snatched up an apple from a bowl placed at the center of the table._

_“It is my birthday,” Loki reminded him. “Aren’t you supposed to be kind to someone on their birthday? You know, say nice things and shower them with gifts?” Loki wondered as he sat, throwing his feet up on the table and settling back against the chair. Thor laughed this time and grabbed the box that rested on the mantle._

_“I shouldn’t have gotten you anything,” Thor said honestly, noting the satisfied expression on Loki’s face when he spotted the box._

_“With most of your gift ideas over the years you_ really _shouldn’t have.”_

_Thor shoved him, nearly sending him tipping backwards out of the chair. While Loki recovered his balance, Thor placed the wooden box on the table in front of him and stood back crossing his arms over his broad chest._

_To free his hands, Loki shoved the apple in his mouth. He sat forward in his chair and wiggled his fingers on either side of the box in playful anticipation. Before he opened the lid, Loki glanced up at Thor with the apple wedged between his teeth. Thor rolled his eyes._

_“Would you just open it?” he chuckled through mock exasperation._

_Loki consented and flung open the lid._

_Inside placed on a bed of red velvet was a gleaming silver push dagger. Loki’s brow furrowed as he took the apple out of his mouth and stared in amazement at the shining piece of gilded metal._

_“It’s beautiful.” Loki said at last, glancing up at his brother with a smile._

_“I thought you’d like it,” Thor smiled back, pleased that his brother genuinely liked his gift. Loki pushed back the chair and brought Thor in for a hug, both of them laughing._

_“Just don’t stick yourself with it,” Thor warned, slapping Loki’s back._

_“Or stick you,” Loki laughed._

Thor leaned forward to hide his face in his hands, trying to quiet his sobs.

It was the same dagger that Loki had stabbed him with on Midgard. The same dagger he had gotten him on his birthday.

Without warning the doors to his chambers flew open and Sif barged in. Thor quickly wiped his eyes before she could get a good enough look at him. Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg came in after her. Sif spotted him sitting by the fire and threw a bag and a crossbow at his feet.

“Come on, Thor. We’re going hunting.”

Thor glanced at the objects by his feet and looked away. “Not today.”

The warriors three shifted uneasily on their feet, but Sif was not deterred. Instead she took those few fateful steps closer to Thor.

“You’ve been in this room all week,” she pointed out to him. “It’s time to get out.”

When Thor said nothing, she knelt by the arm of his chair. “We cannot live in the past, Thor. We have to move on. We _all_ have to move on.”

Thor let out a heavy breath. She was not going to let up. He could order her to leave, but that wouldn’t stop her from making other attempts. He could yell at her, but that wouldn’t scare her off.

Reluctantly, Thor stood. “Fine, let’s get on with it.”

It was a beautiful day like it always was on Asgard. Faint wisps of clouds streaked across the sky off in the distance beneath the lights and stars of the other galaxies.

Thor rode ahead of the group in silence while Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral chatted behind him. Sif was quiet and watchful. Mostly watchful of Thor. He decided to ignore her like he was ignoring the others. He had agreed to go with them, that was all. That didn’t mean he had to talk to them.

The forests in Asgard could be treacherous if one was not careful. But Thor knew these woods. He had been in them often enough when he was a child. Not far from where they were now were Idun’s Apple Orchards. Thor could remember the times when they had spied on Idun picking her ripe golden apples and contemplated stealing some. They never did for fear of what their father might do to them if they were caught. But that didn’t stop them from planning.

Thor almost smiled…almost.

As they crested a hill, they could spy the city just over the tops of the trees. Here the clouds were growing thicker and it was a little bit darker.

“I haven’t seen any pheasant since we left,” Volstagg commented. He glanced around their surroundings with his crossbow resting against his right shoulder. They slowed their pace, also taking in their surroundings.

“Maybe we haven’t traveled far enough?” Fandral suggested. “What do you think Thor…Thor?”

The four companions turned their attention to Thor. They might as well not even be there for his attention was drawn to the far side of the clearing looking over the city of Asgard. Only what they had not seen before was that there was someone standing there.

“Who is that?” Sif wondered out loud, squinting her eyes.

“Who goes there?” Fandral called out, his voice carrying across the plain.

As Thor dismounted he didn’t take his eyes off the figure standing on the other side of the hill, transfixed. The figure did not turn around right away when Fandral called out. Only when Thor came nearer did he finally turn.

Thor stopped in his tracks. It was a small boy, no older than six. His eyes were greener than the grass beneath this feet and his hair blacker than the darkest corner of empty space. The boy was pale beneath the dirt and tangled hair that covered his face.

And Thor knew that face.

On shaking limbs, Thor approached the boy. He did not run when Thor came to kneel before him. His face was oddly void of emotion, all save the faintest hint of confusion as if he could not quite remember why it is he came to be standing there.

With trembling hands, Thor gently grasped the fragile boy’s shoulders. His face broke into awed disbelief when what he felt beneath his hands was solid and real.

“Loki?” Thor said, his voice breaking. The boy furrowed his brow.

“How do you know my name? Who are you?”  Loki asked suspiciously.

“I’m your brother, Thor,” he said speaking slowly as his heart squeezed tighter and tighter in his chest. “You are my brother.” 

“My brother?” Loki repeated. His bright eyes narrowed as he looked away, trying to remember. “I don’t…I don’t know you.” The boy said, becoming distressed.

Thor’s face contorted into an expression of apprehension, his heart breaking. “Do…do you remember anything?” he wanted to know. Loki peered into Thor’s eyes.

“No.” 


	2. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter! And since you guys waited so long, I’m posting TWO chapters today!   
> Thanks for bearing with me! Your comments and support go a long way, seriously! 
> 
> Enjoy!

_Lost and Found_

“No.”

The word brought silence upon the hills. Not even the wind dared to stir as Thor realized what that ‘no’ meant.

Loki didn’t remember. He did not remember what he had done. Not falling into the abyss, not attacking Midgard with the Chitauri, not killing Odin…not dying himself.

None of it.

He didn’t even remember who Thor was. How could that be?

_What did he know?_ Thor wondered in the safety of his own thoughts.

“What am I supposed to remember?” Loki asked shifting uncomfortably as the silence drew on unbearably. Thor refocused his gaze onto Loki as his timid question drew him back to the present.

“Nothing,” Thor told him, a reassuring smile pulling on his lips. “It is not important. What is important,” Thor said enveloping Loki’s slender shoulders under his hands and looking straight into his eyes, “is that you were lost, but we have found you now.”

Loki wearily smiled back, still unsure of Thor.

“Would you like to go home?” Thor asked, trying to hold Loki’s gaze as it wondered away.

“I don’t have it…” Loki mumbled, his delicate brows knitting together uncertainly. He was so lost and unsure, wondering around in this place for what seemed like forever. He had no idea where he belonged.

“No, Loki,” Thor said. _Not this time._ He spoke softly for speaking any louder he feared his voice would fail him. “You have always had a home, _here_.” Thor pointed to the center of his chest were his heart thundered every painful beat.

Loki gazed at Thor’s chest, his frown wobbling as he fought the tears that leaked from his eyes. Thor pulled the small boy into an embrace and held him close. He’d never let him go again, Thor vowed. He wouldn’t take him for granted like he had done in the past. Thor had been given a second chance to make up for his transgressions and he wouldn’t fail Loki this time. Never again.

Loki felt warmth flow thought him for the first time since he found himself wondering in these woods. He had been so scared and alone with nothing, no memories, no sense of direction or recognition. Just a name. But he didn’t have to be alone anymore. He had a brother, and a home! Loki had been afraid that he belonged nowhere, that he had no one and there wasn’t anyone to miss him or look for him. His fear was for not because he was only lost and he’d been found again. Loki was glad that he wasn’t lost anymore, but he couldn’t help but wonder…

_Why can’t I remember anything?_

Sif cleared her throat from behind Thor’s back.

Thor released Loki gently and rose to his feet. Turning he faced Sif and the others.

“Who is this?” Sif wanted to know, her voice overly pleasant as she gazed down at Loki. Thor knew she knew who was standing behind him, shyly clutching onto the hem of his tunic.

“My brother,” Thor stated, his voice armed with a warning edge. “Loki.”

Sif lifted her hard eyes to Thor’s. “You cannot be serious,” she hissed.

“Sif,” Valstagg spoke suddenly, carefully asserting himself beside her after reading the tense set of Thor’s shoulders. “Thor, I think it best if we head back?” he suggested. After a tense stare down and a nervous tug on her sleeve, Sif relented and turned back towards the horses.

Thor watched her go a moment longer before peering down back at Loki.

“Come, Asgard awaits!”

 Loki grinned for the first time.

 

* * *

 

The ride back down to Asgard was tense and silent. No one dared to speak or even glance in Loki and Thor’s direction. They had a million questions and were unsure of what they had seen.

Once they reached the courtyard, Thor dismounted and helped his little brother from the saddle and back into solid ground.

Sif and the Warrior’s Three dismounted slowly, not sharing in Thor’s enthusiasm. As Loki and Thor disappeared into the palace, Fandral turned to Sif.

“I know what you are thinking and-”

“It has to be a trick!” she interrupted. “Loki come back from the dead? A child? How can that be! It has to be some kind of Jotun sorcery! It must be one of Loki’s schemes!”

“Sif, I implore you, do not say any of this to Thor. You know how sensitive he is about Loki since…since well you know! And if you were to say anything now, well…I’m not sure what he would do.”

Sif made an exasperated noise and shook her head. “You think we should just stand by and let Loki go unchallenged to unravel whatever plot he has planned?”

“Him losing his memory does sound a bit convenient…” Volstagg volunteered quietly.

“See!” Sif exclaimed. “It has to be some sort of plot!”

“Stanger things have happened.” Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg all turned their heads to gaze at Hogun who, as usual, was hanging back. “He could be telling the truth.”

“I don’t agree nor disagree,” Fandral said lightly. “I just think we should wait and keep our opinions quiet until we can find the truth of the matter.”

Volstagg nodded his agreement. Sif set her jaw and glared at the point where Loki and Thor had gone out of sight behind the palace doors.   

 

* * *

 

 

Loki excitedly followed Thor up the steps and into the golden glittering hall. His eyes had been bright with wonder ever since he first entered the city. Thor watched him and smiled as Loki turned wide-eyed and astounded while he gazed around him.

“You live here?” he finally asked.

“Yes and you do too,” Thor told him. Loki brushed his long tangled hair out of his eyes.

“It’s really big,” he pointed out. Thor laughed.

“That it is. Come, I’ll show you to your room.”

Just when Thor was turning, several attendants came into the hall followed by Frigga.

“Oh, Thor you’re back!” she said upon seeing her son. “I did not-” Frigga stopped mid-step, nearly tripping over her skirt. Loki made eye contact with her and was frightened by her expression. Slowly he walked closer to Thor and slipped his tiny hand into his.

“Who…who is that,” Frigga demanded in a hushed whisper as she lifted her shaking hand to point at the boy half hidden behind Thor. Her eyes brimmed with tears. And they were not happy ones.

“This,” Thor began, speaking softly while he drew Loki out of hiding. “Is Loki returned to us, mother.”

Frigga stood there, shifting her watering gaze from the boy standing before her to Thor. She, as Thor had, knew that face. She had loved that face once. The face of a boy she had willing let into her heart all those years ago without a second thought. And that boy grew up to be a monster that broke her heart, killed the man she loved, and scared their lives forever. The life of her son and the lives of the Asgardian people. Nothing was ever the same after what he had done.

“How…?” she whispered as angry tears slipped down her flushed cheeks. “How can this be?” Loki was dead and though it pained her to admit it, she’d been glad of it. He couldn’t break her heart anymore.

But here he was. A monster disguised as a boy that she had loved so easily in the past.

“Mother, I-” Thor began, but before he could say anything more, Frigga bunched her skirts on her fists and fled the way she had come. Thor remained where he was, stunned. He did not know how he had expected his mother to react upon seeing Loki again this way…

“Who was that?” Loki’s small voice said at his side. Thor looked at him and swallowed hard. Frigga was Thor’s mother, but she had raised Loki. Thor didn’t want to lie to Loki like Odin had lied to them when they were boys. But now Thor felt he was experiencing his father’s dilemma.

How could he tell this boy the truth? That Frigga was his mother, but then again she wasn’t. How could he say that she was his mother when she had acted that way towards him? How could he tell Loki of his true parentage without revealing what he had done? He was just a boy…

“That was Frigga,” Thor told him.

“Our mother?” Loki had not missed that Thor had indeed called her mother. And since they were brothers that made that woman his mother too.

Before Thor could answer Loki said assumingly, “She’s angry with me. Is it because I ran away?”

Thor racked his brain for a way to tell Loki the truth without telling him everything…

“No, it isn’t because you ran away,” Thor explained. “There was a battle that took place here not too long ago and she lost someone…you just remind her of him.” It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t.

When Loki said nothing, Thor glanced down at him. Loki looked as if he were far away. Maybe he was remembering something. Thor’s heart jumped into his throat.

“Let’s go,” he said quickly and tugged Loki along after him.  


	3. Nothing Cursed Can Stay

_Nothing Cursed Can Stay_

 

Word of Loki’s return had spread throughout Asgard like wildfire. Curious crowds that gathered outside of the palace walls turned into angry mobs demanding the traitor be expelled from Asgard forever. They didn’t seem to care or believe that Loki was a child without memory of his previous transgressions. They only wanted him gone lest he succeed in destroying Asgard for good this time.

Thor had been able to shelter Loki from the turmoil that plagued the city since word of his return became public knowledge, but he could not protect him from the condemning looks and bitter resentment that radiated from the gods who resided in the palace.

Loki had learned to stop asking questions because he could see how much they distressed his brother. Instead, he suffered their cold looks without explanation.

Thor spent as much time with Loki as possible. He didn’t trust anyone else to protect him. He also feared that someone would say something to him. Thor did everything he could to keep Loki occupied. And everything was going well until Balder returned to Asgard…

“I thought they were rumors,” he scoffed at Thor. “I had no clue they were actually true.”

“Is that why you are here?” Thor growled at his cousin. “To see what all the talk was about?”  Balder walked in front of Thor who stood in the center of his rooms. His arms were crossed and his expression darker than a storm cloud.

“Not only,” Balder confessed as he stood peering out over Asgard from Thor’s window. “I come because they chose me to summon you to a council of the gods.”

Thor’s face turned even darker. “Are none of them brave enough to summon their king themselves.”

“None but I it seems,” Balder grinned over his shoulder, a flash of white teeth through his finely trimmed black beard, his blue eyes bright with amusement. “They wish to speak with you about the Sly One.”

“Don’t call him that,” Thor warned. Balder turned from the view and faced his cousin.

“I’ll call him what I like,” Balder sighed, exasperated as he brushed past Thor. Before Thor could say or do anything, Balder was at his door saying, “Come to the Hall…if it pleases you, My Lord.” Amusement flashed across his expression before he closed the door behind him.

* * *

 

Loki played by himself in the garden while Thor spoke to the big man with the black hair. He had not caught his name, but Loki already didn’t like him. Loki didn’t really like anyone except Thor. It wasn’t that he didn’t try, but it was hard to like someone who looked at you as if you did something wrong. And everyone looked at him like that.

Sometimes Loki wondered if that’s why he had run away and gotten lost. Because no one liked him here.

He fiddled with the small wooden eight legged horse and the wooden Valkyrie warrior in his hands while he stood in the middle of the grass surrounded by flowers growing in the shrubbery. Loki didn’t feel like playing anymore, but he didn’t know where else he could go. Thor had told him to wait here, that he’d be back to play with him in a little while.

There was a rustling sound in the bushes that startled Loki. He whipped around in time to see a young girl, no older than he was emerging from under the shrubs. She looked at the wooden horse that Loki had dropped at his feet and then up at him, her dark eyes squinting against the bright sun. She had all manner of twigs, leaves, and flowers tangled in her brown hair.

Loki stepped back to allow her room to stand as he clutched his remaining toy in his grasp. The girl brushed the dirt off her white dress uselessly before bending over to retrieve Loki’s horse.

“You dropped this?” she said offering it to him with a smile. She was missing some of her baby teeth in her smile.

Loki made no move to take back the toy. Instead he started at her with wide green eyes and a startled expression. He’d never seen another child his age before. Much less a girl. And there she was, smiling her toothy smile looking as if she’d spent the day rolling in the dirt.

“Here, take it!” she giggled easily, shoving it into his arms. Loki flinched, but caught the horse before it fell again. “Who are you?” the girl wanted to know.

“I’m Loki,” he mumbled, not quite making eye contact as he banged his wooden toys together. “What are you doing here?” he asked in return, finding that his curiosity outweighed his fear.

“I’m looking for flowers for the Lady Frigga!” the girl announced importantly. “My mama is one of the Lady Frigga’s attendants and mama says the Lady Frigga has been feeling badly so I thought I’d pick her some flowers to cheer her up!” she explained between long winded breaths because she was nearly shouting. The girl’s mother was the Goddess Servant of Frigga named Fulla.  

Loki’s mood soured further at the mention of Frigga.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “She doesn’t like me very much.”

“The Lady Frigga?” the girl asked, her brow furrowing. “I’m sure that’s not true. The Lady Frigga is really nice to me.”

Loki shrugged unhappily and explained, “My brother Thor says that I remind her of someone she lost. I don’t think she liked that person very much though…”

“I know Thor lost his daddy and his brother…” the girl said after thinking a moment.

“I’m Thor’s brother and he found me,” Loki told her twisting his lips and squinting at her.

“Well then maybe you remind the Lady Frigga of your daddy! Maybe you look like him! I look like my mommy!” the girl exclaimed excitedly.

Loki thought about it and decided that that might be the case. Maybe he made her sad because he looked like his father who was dead… He hadn’t really thought about the man who was his father before. He didn’t really feel sad that he was dead, because he simply didn’t remember him. Loki had Thor and it was enough for him…

Loki glanced up at the girl and offered her the horse. “Do you want to play with me?” he asked shyly. The girl grinned again, glad to have made Loki feel better.

“Sure!” she took the horse and made a neighing sound. Loki giggled and imitated her which made her laugh. She lifted the horse above her head and started to run around. Loki followed her, laughing as he did the same with his toy. 

“What’s your name?” Loki asked loudly over her laughter.

“I’m Sigyn!”

* * *

 

Thor arrived in the Hall of Valhalla, the doors swinging open and cracking against the walls like thunder. The gods waiting in their seats winged out on either side of the All Father’s throne jumped. Balder watched him approach without even bothering to mask his amusement. Tyr clenched his fist on the arm of his chair, still angry for having to wait for so long.

Thor brushed his hardened gaze over each of them as he stomped his way up the steps to this throne. His red cape flaring up behind him, he turned and plopped himself down.

No one said a thing.

Thor waved his hand in the air. “Well?” he demanded testily.

Sif bravely spoke first.

“We’ve gathered here to talk to you about Loki.”

Thor resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he stared ahead, not bothering to look at any of them. Of course this was about Loki. Thor would have been surprised if they called this meeting to talk about anything else.

“He cannot be allowed to stay here,” Freyja said after Sif.

“He should be executed,” Tyr grumbled stroking his fiery red beard, glaring at Thor with eyes as grey as steel. Thor refused to give him the satisfaction of reacting lest he break Tyr’s nose to add to the ugliness that was his face.

“Loki is too dangerous to be left alive. You must keep in mind that it is his nature to deceive.” Syn said diplomatically. Sjofn would have reached out and touched Thor’s hand had she been seated next to him. But that honor had been left to Thor’s uncles Vili and Ve and neither of them were kind enough to comfort him.

“This has to be some sort of scheme. Don’t let your feeling for the bastard get in the way of your judgment,” Freyr, Freyja’s twin brother who was as handsome as she was beautiful commented idly.

Thor slammed his fist down on the arm of his gilded throne, silencing the next god who dared to open their mouth.

“He. Stays.” Thor declared with a quiet calm that seemed to have more of an effect on them than it would have of he had yelled. He rose out of his place at the throne and descended a few steps before turning on them. “You wish me to execute a child? A child that has no memory of the wrong he had done? I will not.” Thor shook his head, “I know Loki isn’t lying. You did not watch him die. You did not bury him. You did not look into that child’s eyes and see the truth that I saw there. He’s terrified.” Thor lifted a threatening finger at each of them. “You say anything to that boy, you try to harm one hair on his head, and you will have to answer to me. I failed him once and he turned into the monster that nearly destroyed us all. You are all fools if you think I had forgotten. I will not fail him this time, he will not go down that path again. You get in my way and I will kill you. I don’t care if you are my kin,” Thor said under his breath, though they all heard him clearly enough as he turned and walked away.

None of them moved until the doors closed behind the God of Thunder.                      


	4. The Nature of Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm posting this short chapter because it feel like this is a good transition into the other chapters. When I post next it will be seven years in the future where we will meet 13yr old Loki!

_The Nature of Dreams_

Thor shot out of bed as soon as he heard Loki’s screams echoing in the corridor outside his chambers. He ran down the hall that was quickly alight and filled with curious residents peeking their heads out of their doors. Thor ignored them all as he made for Loki’s room. He found several people lingering outside Loki’s door, too afraid to go inside. Thor shoved them out of his way without a word and barely had the door opened before he was rushing inside.

It was dark, but Thor could see in the dim light that Loki was thrashing in his bed as if he were fighting off an invisible enemy. Thor lunged to Loki’s bedside and grabbed the boy’s flailing arms in his hands so he wouldn’t accidentally hit him. Thor was lifting him off the bed by his arms and shifting his grip to Loki’s shoulders while he called out his name in an effort to wake him.

“Loki! Loki wake up! It’s alright!” Someone lit a lamp behind him, making his shadow dance eerily upon the walls.

“Stop that awful screaming!” Freyja demanded as she barged in past the onlookers, a not so beautiful scowl on her face. Loki continued to scream, trapped in whatever nightmare he was having.

“Go back to your room, Freyja,” Thor bellowed. “This doesn’t concern you!”

“It does concern me!” Freyja shouted right back. “He’s been at this every night since you brought him here! It’s getting old!”

“GET OUT!” Everyone lingering in the room jumped as Thor’s voice boomed like thunder in their ears. They didn’t even care that Loki’s screams had stopped, they turned and left before Thor really lost his temper. Freyja left more slowly, pausing in the threshold to throw a narrowed look in Thor’s direction.

Loki sniffled and sobbed, his head unsupported fell back until Thor placed his hand on the back of his neck. Tears leaked out of the corner of Loki’s eyes and slid shining down his face in the lamplight. Loki was sweating, but instead of being hot to the touch, he was cold.

“Loki, open your eyes,” Thor ordered, his voice gentle so he wouldn’t startle him. Loki did just that, his eyes taking their time to focus on Thor.

“Brother?” Loki said in a choked sob. He sounded terrified. Thor let him crawl out of his sheets and wrap his arms around his neck. He placed a hand on the back of Loki’s chilly wet hair and rocked him in his arms.

“It is alright, Loki. You have nothing to be afraid of,” Thor tried to assure him. When Loki said nothing, Thor quit rocking him and pulled him back so he could cup his face in his hands and look him in the eye. “This is the third time you’ve had bad dreams, Loki and you haven’t wanted to talk about them. But I think this time you must.” Loki pressed his lips together and started to shake his head, but Thor stilled his head. “Please, Loki-”

“I keep falling,” Loki said suddenly. A cold chill shot down Thor’s back. “I see your face and a man that I’ve never seen before. And I feel so…sad…and then I’m falling. I…I keep hurting you.” Loki began to tear up again, “I don’t want to keep hurting you!”

Thor hushed Loki’s sobs as he pulled him into his chest. He was at a loss for words and he didn’t know what to say. But seeing Loki like this…he was remembering things. He could only imagine what he was reliving in his dreams. They were probably things he himself would have rather forgotten…

“It’s always the same,” Loki continued more calmly. “But this time…this time when I looked up at your face I felt like I was dying.” This time it was Loki that pulled back to gaze up at Thor. His expression was a mixture of worry and confusion. “Did I die, Thor? Is that why I can’t remember anything?”

Thor closed his eyes and looked away. There was no way he couldn’t tell Loki the truth now. Not when Loki was coming to realize that his dreams were memories reappearing to him in nightmares. And they would be nightmares. The end of Loki’s life had not been an easy one…

Thor turned back to Loki and lifted his hand to brush his fingers across his cheek before settling his hand on his little narrow shoulder.

“Your past is not an easy thing to speak of, Little Loki. But I will tell you, if you think you are ready to hear it.” Loki stared up at him, his eyes wide.

“So I did die?” he said quietly. Thor shook his head.

“I do not know why you have come back to us or how. But I would not have it any other way,” Thor told him with a smile in the darkness for Loki.

Loki did not smile back. Instead he thought, his mind reaching for anything to hold onto from his past. But there was nothing.

“Who was I?” Loki finally asked. “Before I…fell?” Thor’s expression became torn. Should he tell Loki of his true origins? The last time Loki found out who and what he really was, he fell down a path that lead to his death. Thor would rather die than see that happen again. But it was lies that turned Loki into the monster that he had become. Thor decided that the truth was better than betraying Loki’s trust and lying to him.

“You were Loki, son of the Jotun Frost Giant Laufey. You were the child of Odin and a brother of mine. And you, like me, were a son of Asgard and a god.” Loki stared up at Thor, openly shocked.

“I’m…I’m a Frost Giant?” he asked, his brows drawing together worryingly. “I’m not really your brother?” Loki began to drop his head to hide the disappointment on his face. Thor grabbed his chin and forced Loki to look at him.

“We are brothers in every way but blood. You are the only brother I’ve ever had and if I had had the power, I would have brought you back myself.” Thor touched his forehead to Loki’s. “Don’t ever doubt that I love you, brother.”

Loki nodded against his head, his worries eased. He concluded then that if he had nothing in the world, he’d always have Thor. But something still bothered him. “I was bad…wasn’t I?”

Thor was quiet for a moment, but said, “There was wretchedness in your past life, but this is a second chance for both of us. I won’t fail you like I had in the past, Loki.”

“And I won’t disappoint you.” Loki promised.          

 


	5. The Truth About Liars

_The Truth About Liars_

_**Seven Years Later** _

It was as beautiful day as any in Asgard. The light from their sun was bright and the breeze carried the faint scent of all things new in its current. Loki sat on the lip of a boulder upon a hill overlooking the city while he fiddled with a piece of Midgardian technology called a tablet produced by Stark Industries. Loki had taken it off a traveler a few years past and he was obsessed with it. Something about the name Stark tugged at something in his non-existent memory. But Loki had learned to relatively ignore those tugs. It wasn’t like he was ever going to fully remember anything from his past life anyway. He just liked to play the games and read the stories about the Midgardian world the tablet provided. All matter of the realm of Midgard fascinated him ever since he’d learned of it.

Tucked in Loki’s green tunic was a whittling tool and a small figurine he had been working on while he waited for Sigyn, who was a servant to Frigga like her mother. But he had gotten distracted and started to play a game on the tablet. He wasn’t far from Idun’s orchard of precious golden apples. It was actually just through the line of trees that stood behind where he sat. So he shouldn’t have been surprised when Bragi, Idun’s husband came barreling through the brush and headed straight in Loki’s direction. Loki didn’t even have to look at him to see that his beard was practically bristling with anger.

“What are you doing here?” Bragi demanded. Loki sighed and mourned the loss of his high score on Temple Run.

“Know this, Bragi,” Loki began offhandedly while he exited out of his game, “that I answer your polite inquiry not out of any obligation to you, but out of the kindness of my heart. I’m waiting for someone,” he explained, glancing lazily over his shoulder before returning to his tablet.

“Liar!” Bragi hissed. “You’re up to something. You’re always up to something!”

“Why do people always assume that I’m lying?” Loki mumbled under his breath.       

A sharp slap whipped across the back of his head, ruffling his long black hair as he fell forward flat on his face.

“You know why!” Bragi accused, pointing down at Loki. “Because you are a helspawned trickster that nearly raised Asgard to the ground and in doing so sent many good souls so the pits and…” Bragi paused his tirade to eye the tablet Loki reached for on the ground where he had dropped it. “What hellish device is that-”

“It’s a device beyond you and your kin’s simple understanding,” Loki growled, wiping the dirt off it as he picked himself up off the ground. “Though I suspect much is beyond you kin.”

Bragi’s face darkened and he took a threatening step towards Loki. “I’m going to break you!”

“Is there a problem here?” a voice suddenly asked from behind Bragi. Bragi turned to see Thor emerging on foot over the hill and walking towards them. Loki got to his feet and wiped the dirt off his face with a black gloved hand.

“He was being disrespectful, Lord Thor,” Bragi informed him scowling.

“Oh, very,” Loki admitted while rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. “And for that I apologize most ardently. My mood must have been disagreeable due to the physical pain. The least I can do is regret my words.”

Thor eyed Loki questionably, but said to Bragi, “Do you accept this?” Bragi, knowing that Loki was much favored by Thor chose to accept Loki’s vindictive apology.

“Good,” Thor nodded. “Then I think it best you take your leave.”

“Yes, Lord Thor.” Bragi’s scowl did not improve as he returned to his wife’s orchards.

“What was that about?” Thor wanted to know when Bragi was well out of sight.

Loki shrugged and tucked his tablet away into his tunic. “A difference of opinion I suppose.” Loki squinted up at his older brother. “What brings you here?” he asked turning Thor’s attention away from the incident.

Thor gathered himself for the conversation he was about to have with Loki. Loki saw the physical change in his brother and steeled himself as well.

“I heard what you did to the kitchens this morning,” Thor informed his younger brother, his tone stern.

“Oh, they deserved it,” Loki reasoned with a scoff that scrunched his face.

“Are they still putting sand in your food?” Thor asked, a scowl appearing on his face.

“Oh no, don’t be ridiculous.” Loki said waving his hand around as if to dispel the air. “They’ve upgraded to dirt now. Cooks easier and is much harder to detect until you’ve already swallowed.”

Thor sighed, exasperated. He thought he had put a stop to that bullying weeks ago. “Loki, you have to tell me when they do these things!”

“No, Thor!” Loki snapped, irritated himself. “I can’t have you fighting all my battles for me all the time! They’ll never respect me that way!”

“They’ll never respect you if you play tricks on them, Loki!” Thor reasoned, his voice rising. “You’re thirteen now, nearly a man! You need to put away childish pranks and start solving problems instead of making them worse!”

Loki clenched his jaw and lowered his head. “I’m sorry I disappointed you, brother,” Loki said quietly. Thor let out a breath and stepped closer to his little brother. He placed his hands on his shoulders, causing Loki to look at him.

“You didn’t disappoint me, Loki. I sometimes forget that you are still a child,” he admitted. “But next time tell me when they do things like this. I’m your brother and it is my duty to look after you. Promise me,” Thor said, squeezing Loki’s shoulders.

“Alright, I promise,” Loki swore.

“Good,” Thor smiled. Loki smiled back, though he wasn’t very happy. He had been enduring bullying at the hands of the Asgardians ever since he was brought back. It wasn’t the first time he had decided to give them a taste of their own medicine. “No more tricks,” Thor warned not unkindly.

“No more tricks,” Loki repeated in a way of a promise.

Thor released him, satisfied. He glanced around, a small frown on his lips.

“What are you doing up here anyway?”

“I’m waiting for Sigyn to be done catering to Frigga’s every whim,” Loki informed him sarcastically as he plopped himself back down into his previous spot and took out his wooden figurine and whittler. Thor shook his head at his brother’s hunched shoulders and watched him as she began furiously chipping away at the wood. It wasn’t a secret that Frigga and Loki didn’t get along. In fact, it wasn’t a secret that Loki didn’t get along with most of the gods in Asgard. Thor knew that Sigyn and Loki had been friends for years now. Thor was actually glad Loki had a friend like her.

“Well it looks like you won’t have to wait much longer,” Thor informed Loki when he glanced up and saw her coming over the crest of the hill. Sigyn had her long brown hair pulled back in a braid that hung over her shoulder. The wind whipped the loose strands around her head and in her face. She pulled the hem of her dress above her feet as she ascended the hill.

Loki didn’t look up as he mumbled something unintelligible while Thor turned to leave. He passed Sigyn on his way down the hill where she paused to bow.

“Lord Thor,” she smiled as she bowed her head respectfully and spread her skirts.

“Sigyn,” Thor nodded back in kind without stopping. She waited for him to walk by before making her way up the hill and the rest of the way to Loki. Settling herself next to him, she leaned in and peered over his shoulder.

“I saw what you did to the kitchens this morning,” Sigyn told him. “You owe me a meal, by the way.” Loki didn’t respond. Sigyn frowned and sensed that he wasn’t in his usual mood to joke, which was rare. “They put something worse in your food than sand this time, didn’t they?” she guessed quietly, looking carefully at his face.

“It was dirt,” Loki said finally, still chipping away at the now ruined wooden figurine of a Valkyrie he’d been making. Sigyn’s expression saddened. She knew Loki was bullied often by various people within the palace, servants and gods alike. Sometimes servants bullied him on the behest of a god, sometimes because they took it upon themselves to make him miserable.

Sigyn moved closer to Loki and wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her cheek upon his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “They deserved it.”

Loki chuckled and briefly touched his cheek to the top of her head. “You bet they did.” Loki slowed his hacking and began carving again. Out of all the people in the Nine Realms, it was Sigyn who could always make him feel better without fail. Sure Thor made him feel better too, but sometimes he could be a thickhead. Sigyn always knew what to say to turn his mood around.

Sigyn smiled and turned her head to prop her chin upon his shoulder. “Is that for me?” she asked.

Loki lifted the small chunk of wood into the light and appraised it. Though the bottom half was hacked to pieces, the Valkyrie’s face was a perfect likeness of Sigyn.

“Of course,” Loki assured her as he lowered it back onto his lap to begin working on it again. “Who else would it be for?”

 _You’re my only friend in the world, Sigyn…_      

     


	6. Where He Lies

_Where He Lies_  

Sigyn and Loki returned late to the palace from their afternoon out together. The sun was setting at their backs in a bright orange and red blaze as they walked through the courtyard. Loki had his arm around Sigyn’s shoulders as he whispered a joke into her ear. It made her laugh which caused her to nearly double over because she was laughing so hard.

That laughter abruptly stopped when they walked over the threshold of the palace’s tall doors to find the inside in an uproar. The pair watched in confusion as bodies rushed about, some away from the Hall of Valhalla in a hurry or towards it with the same amount of urgency in their steps.

“What’s going on?” Sigyn wondered out loud as Loki’s arm slipped off her shoulders, his brows drawing together as his eyes expressed the same confusion Sigyn had voiced. Loki didn’t answer because he obviously didn’t know the answer himself. Instead he tried to hail a nearby servant walking by.

“Excuse me, but what’s going on?”

The servant didn’t even glance in Loki’s direction before rushing off.

Loki slowly curled his raised hand into a fist while he lowered it to back to his side, embarrassed and frustrated.  Sigyn’s expression was sympathetic as she touched his arm gently before walking a ways away to talk to a group of servants gathered and whispering in the hall. She returned shortly, her expression now worried.

“There’s been some sort of attack on Midgard. Lord Thor and the others are in the Hall gathering the reports to try to piece together what’s happened.”

“An attack on Midgard?” Loki repeated, stunned. “Are you certain?” There was no doubt when he looked into her eyes that that was what she had heard. Loki glanced down the curving corridor in the direction of the throne room of Valhalla where he knew Thor would be. “I should go then,” he told her. His own expression mirrored her worry, but he smiled reassuringly despite it and placed a comforting hand on her neck, his long fingers brushing her cheek. “I don’t like it when you look at me like that,” he said, his smile never wavering as he left her standing in the corridor.

When Sigyn was out of sight, Loki ran his black gloved hands through his hair and let out a breath.

What was going on indeed. Was Midgard really under attack? Why? By whom? What did this mean for Asgard? Were they in danger as well?

As Loki’s long legged strides took him closer to the throne room, he saw the crowd of people there gathered at its tall, peaked and tightly sealed gilded doors. There were guards stationed at the entrance and from where Loki stood, it was obvious that they weren’t letting anybody in. Least of all him, so there was no use bothering.

Cursing, Loki pressed himself up against the wall out of the way and thought furiously. He wanted to know what was going on from the source and that meant being inside the throne room where the gods were gathered.

Just as he was thinking about trying finding another way in, maybe scaling the side of the palace and climbing in through the window, the doors to the throne room opened. Voices rose, their questions spilling out of mouths and crashing up against his ears in waves. Loki eagerly pushed himself away from the wall, seeking Thor’s golden hair over the heads of the other Asgardians.

Thor emerged, surrounded by guards as he walked unmolested through the crowd. His face was drawn into a scowl, most likely due to the news of the happenings on the other realm, a realm he had grown rather fond of to put it mildly.

“Thor!” Loki called out. He didn’t seem to hear him over all that chatter, so Loki stepped into Thor’s projected path and called his name again, louder this time.

“Get out of the way, trickster!” the head of Thor’s guard bellowed. Thor grabbed the back of the guard’s neck and pulled him back, stopping the whole progression.

“Enough,” Thor thundered, in no mood for this pettiness. “Let my brother pass.” Loki stood there awkwardly, trying not to act like he had just been insulted…again. The guard discreetly pulled a face as he let Loki pass.   

Loki ignored the look and drew nearer to his brother before he whispered, “What is going on?” as they continued to walk, surrounded by guards.

“I must go to Midgard.” Thor told him quietly. Loki’s eyes widened with excitement.

“Can I go with you?” Loki asked, a skip in his step. Thor stopped again and placed a calming hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“No, Loki. I cannot take you with me. I fear…” Thor thought about what his friends on Midgard, the Avengers, would think if he brought Loki, the one who nearly destroyed their New City of York and took over their realm back to them as a child. He feared it would not be wise to involve him. “It is not safe,” Thor concluded, his tone troubled. Loki gazed up at him, barely able to hide his disappointment. He’s always wanted to go to Midgard. He’d at least like to see it before it was potentially destroyed!

“But I can help!” Loki pleaded.

“Loki, no. And I mean it. Stay in Asgard. It is for your own safety.”

Thor continued on, his crimson cape swirling behind him. Loki did not follow, but watched his brother leave him standing in the corridor. A guard bumped into his shoulder, nearly knocking him off his feet but Loki didn’t bother to care.

Thor was leaving him.

He’d go to Midgard for who knew how long?

Loki glanced at the fleeting figure of the guard who had run into him.

 

A cold shiver ran down his back.

Who would protect him when Thor was gone?

* * *

 

Loki paced the garden outside of Thor’s rooms as he absently juggled a thick blue cloth ball filled with sand in his hand. The small glass petals flowering on the trees twinkled in the dying light as they chimed together in the faint breeze. Thor’s rooms were locked since he’d left for Midgard, but that didn’t keep Loki out. Not when it was the only place where no one would bother him. He had not even seen Sigyn since Thor left. It was almost like Frigga was purposefully trying to keep her busy so he wouldn’t be able to see her.

Loki threw the ball up and snatched it violently out of the air again.

He was sick of waiting around all the time. He wanted to do something. He wanted to help! Prove himself-prove to everyone that he wasn’t the monster that they thought he was. But that opportunity appeared to be passing him by and there was nothing that he could do about it…

Angry, Loki threw the ball into the woods with a curse. He turned to retreat back into Thor’s rooms where he’d stay for the night and stopped abruptly when something struck him on the back of his head. His hand flew to the spot where he was struck and whipped around, expecting to see someone standing there. There was no one.

Exasperated, Loki looked for the object that had been thrown at him around his feet, a snarl on his lips. Next to his foot was the ball he had thrown into the trees beyond the garden.

Loki dropped his hand from the sore spot behind his head and knelt down to retrieve the ball. His long fingers lingered over it before he grasped it in his palm, confused.

He straightened until he was standing tall, holding the ball tightly. “Who threw that?” he asked out loud. Loki waited for a response, but there wasn’t even a telling rustle of movement. There was no one there, but someone had to have thrown it. Was it Sigyn? “Show yourself!” Loki demanded.

_Caw!_

Loki’s attention was drawn to a low hanging tree branch just at the edge of the garden. Perched upon it was a stark black raven. It twitched its head, seemingly peering at Loki and ruffled its feathers before cawing at him again. Loki squinted at the raven suspiciously as he turned his head to look elsewhere for the culprit. But just as he was about to shift his eyes away, the raven cawed again, this time more obnoxiously.

“What do you want, you stupid bird?” Loki called out to it. “Go on! Get out of here!” Loki waved his hands at it in an attempt to scare the raven off. Loki didn’t even know why he bothered. It was a stupid bird and it only cawed at him again mockingly. Frustrated, Loki threw the ball at it. The bird flew up and caught it out of the air.

Loki gaped at the bird as it turned and fled into the woods.

“Hey!” he shouted after it when he realized that the bird was stealing his ball, though it was he that had abandoned it to the woods in the first place.

Loki chased after it, following the sound of its wings and its persistently mocking cries. He crashed through the trees that had grown thickly together. The dead, lifeless twigs reaching off the ends of dwindling branches scraped at his exposed skin. He simultaneously tried to watch the skies through the canopied branches and what lay before him which resulted in treacherous going.

Without warning, Loki was free of the confinement of the trees and stumbling into an open clearing. When Loki regained his bearings with his feet firmly planted beneath him, he looked around. There at the center of the field was a waist high grey stone sculpted into a cylinder. Placed upon it was a gilded, gold helmet with great long curving horns arching over the top of its helm.   

Loki stared at it as something stirred deep within him. It was a feeling like all those other times when a memory tried to breach the surface of his mind and failed. Only this time it was stronger.

He found himself drawing nearer, his legs shaking, but sure in his steps. Offhandedly, Loki noticed the lifelessness around him that wasn’t known to Asgard. Everything was beautiful and filled with life, but here in this place, the trees were dead and lifeless, its branches reaching for the sky with claws. The ground beneath his feet, however, was lush green grass…

When Loki was only a few feet away, the raven flew out of nowhere and landed on top of the helmet between the horns. The black bird spread its wings and cawed loudly at him as if warning him not to come any closer. Loki obeyed only because he realized what he was looking at. As the raven flew off again, Loki didn’t even blink for his mind was on the distant past…

_“Did I die, Thor…?_ ”

It was a question he hadn’t asked since he was a child. One that he’d always assumed was true, that he did die, but Thor had never actually said the words, he’d only ever said that he’d come back. But that could mean anything…

Now here he was, staring at a grave stone with a helmet that he knew had belonged to him.

Out of all the memories that had decided to come to the surface, it had to be the one that confirmed what he had been afraid of all this time: his death.

With a heaviness in his heart, Loki took another step closer, his hand reaching out to touch the shining metal. As soon as his fingers brushed against the helmet, his world erupted into a field of green fire.

Loki retreated back, raising his arms to shield his face from the hot and cold burning wind. His long black hair whipped around his head and into his eyes, making it hard to see. Loki tried to keep his eyes open so he could see what was happening around him, but the wind dried out his eyes, causing him to close them tightly again.

Suddenly the wind began to die down into a dull roar rather than the hurricane inferno that it had been. Loki tentatively began to lower his arms, his green eyes squinting into the wide circle of green fire he was trapped in.

Then suddenly out of the flames a figure began to emerge. Loki blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision, lest he be imagining things. However, the figure did not disappear, rather it became more defined until Loki could distinguish that it was a man walking through the flames towards him.

He had long black hair that reached his shoulders and sunken, hollow eyes that burned green and hot and cold as the flames surrounding him, set in a pale and narrow face. He was clad in black leather with touches of green in the inner working of the cloth and gold plating in his armor. A green cape billowed at his back.

Loki stood there, frozen in awe as the man approached him with a devious glint in his eyes. The man stopped next to the grave stone and looked down at the helmet resting upon the stone. With long slinger fingers, the man caressed the horn, an expression of fondness and memory upon his face.

Loki continued to stare at him, waiting for the man to take notice of him again. When impatience grew restless inside him, Loki asked, “Who _are_ you?”

The man returned his burning green gaze to him, his hand returning to his side.

“I am Loki, whose whim brought Asgard crashing down to its knees. I am Loki whose tongue was an anvil where the sharpest lies were forged. I am Loki and I have things to say that you must know. I am Loki who you must not trust.”    


	7. Where Do We Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Hey guys! Sorry for the slow updates, really. Usual excuse, I've been busy. But I have also been writing other stuff like my novels and I'm also co-writing another book! I write this fanfic usually when I gain inspiration, or when people pester me into posting *cough* Lexi *cough*. The more you pester me into posting, the faster the chapters will come. It lets me know you guys actually care and want to read this story. And since I'm not one that likes to disappoint, I will post faster. So write a review or shoot me a PM, I'd love to hear from those of you excited about this fic beCAUSE I'M EXCITED TOO! FANGIRLING IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE DONE ALONE!
> 
> Love you all
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> -Summer

**_Where Do We Begin_ **

Young Loki stood amongst the flames, hardly believing what he was seeing. The deceivingly gentle wind pulled at his dark hair and dried his lips.

A chill ran up Loki’s spine. The kind of chill one gets when someone walks over your grave…only it is you and you are already dead. Fear threatened to take hold as young Loki gazed into the hollow eyes of his predecessor. Was it the truth that this was who he had been? Before he had died and been reborn again? The man before him looked…mad. 

So many questions burned through Loki’s mind, but fear made him hold his tongue for he somehow knew he had entered into a dangerous game…

“What are the chances,” young Loki said, wetting his lips and trying to keep the tremble from his voice. “For I am also Loki. You and I would be the best of friends.” The ghost of his past smirked, his image flickering in and out like flame. 

“Indeed, but friends are not necessary, for there is only one Loki.” 

Loki stood rigid as if death itself had placed a hand upon the nape of his neck. But he would not let the fear win out. Cleverness would be his shield. 

“Yet there are two of us standing here,” young Loki pointed out. “How can that be? You died…we died.”

A mischievous glint both brighter and darker than the flames shone across Loki’s eyes. Young Loki wondered if that look was what people remembered when they looked at him. He fervently hoped that it wasn’t. That was a look to fear, one he feared himself.

“Ah,” he smiled. “You wish to know what your purpose here is.” Loki leaned forward slightly and favored his younger self with a playful look. “You and every other mortal.” His expression suddenly darkened. “Don’t be boring.”

Young Loki felt a sudden anger rise within him. He above all did not enjoy being mocked. “You should have stayed in the ground. Why am I here?” he demanded more bluntly.

Loki straightened again and with his hands clasped behind his narrow waist, he tilted his head back to gaze down his nose. “Because I have a destiny.”

Young Loki scoffed at that. “Do you not think that destiny was forfeit when, I don’t know…well when you DIED?”

Loki barked a laugh, short and without humor. “Only the clever can cheat death, and I am the biggest cheat of all,” Loki claimed, a sly smile pulling the corner of his lips. “Death cannot keep me from my fate.”

“And what fate is that and what does it have to do with me?” Young Loki wanted to know. He felt as if he were a fish in deep waters drawing nearer bait on a hook. But the real danger was lurking somewhere below with its eyes on him.

“I have a destiny to rule Asgard,” the mad man said. “And I needed a clean slate.” He lowered his dark gaze to look at his younger self. “I wrote myself out of the book of death so I could find my way back to a new Loki…You. And when you give yourself over to me, I will rule Asgard, just as it was always meant to be.”

Young Loki felt his world fading as the words settled upon his conscience like a bad dream. “I will never let that happen,” he claimed with wavering certainty. “Asgard belongs to Thor. It always has.”

The older Loki paced, not trying very hard to hide the amused grin upon his face. “Thor is a fool and always has been. The throne beneath this backside can hardly change any of that.”

Young Loki clenched and unclenched his jaw as he fought the tears that blurred his vision. How could he mock? What had happened to him that had turned him into this…this monster? How could he want to betray someone he loved more than anyone else? What has Thor ever done but love him despite everything all his life?

“I will not make the same mistakes you did,” Young Loki vowed with tears slipping from his eyes. “I have a chance to make things right, right from whatever mess you made. And I will _not mess_ _it up_ ,” he whispered feverishly as if it were a threat.

The man across from him ceased his pacing to look upon him. “You and I are one, little Loki. Whatever _mistakes_ I’ve made are ours to share. Your fate and mine are intertwined. Whether you wish it or not.”

“No,” Loki scowled. “What I wish is to be Loki. _You_ are done.  _You_ are gone.”

Something flared up within him. Something old and dangerous that he had yet to discover until this moment.

The raven circled the flames in the darkening skies. With a steady hand, Loki raised his fingers to those skies and summoned the raven forth. It descended upon the helmet with wings spread wide. With a power that he knew nothing of, he banished the spirit of his past into the raven with a bright green flare. The look upon his older self’s face was not one of surprise or deceit, but one of knowing.

And it chilled Loki all the more. 


	8. The Gods Are Cowards

The Gods Are Cowards

Loki stood in the field, out of breath and without knowing how he actually did what he just did. It had to be some kind of magic.

_It must be the Jotun blood,_ he thought to himself as he inspected his hands. It must have been a trick of the eye, but he could have sworn there was something dark disappearing on his skin.

A disgruntled caw drew his attention back to the raven perched upon the grave stone. Dropping his hands to his sides, he approached it. Loki’s face was void of emotion as he and the raven watched each other at a close distance.

The raven twitched its feathers and tilted its head, gazing at him with those beady yet fathomless eyes.

“Come, Ikol,” Loki said, raising his arm before the bird. Ikol cawed noisily, but obeyed in a loud flutter of wings. The wind he wrought stirred Loki’s hair.

Ikol settled himself on Loki’s arm before walking sideways up to his shoulder. Loki could feel it as they walked back through the dead trees that his former self was present within the bird. He was not exactly sure how, but he was. Not quite the same way he was present before, but there all the same.

It took some time to get back within sight of the palace. Loki wasn’t worried about anyone wondering about his disappearance, except maybe Sigyn. But she was so busy caring to Frigga’s every whim that she probably hadn’t even noticed he’d gone anywhere.

Once Loki got back into the gardens outside of Thor’s rooms, Ikol lifted himself off his shoulder and perched himself on a branch instead. Loki lifted his gaze to him and frowned, but before he could demand that he get back here, Sigyn came running through the doors.

“Sigyn!” Loki called out in surprise when he saw her running towards him. She stopped just shy of him, her breath coming out in short bursts. Her brows were drawn together over worried and pained eyes.  “What is it?” he asked when he got a good look at her. He grabbed her by her upper arms and dragged her closer. Sigyn stumbled a bit, but dropped the skirt of her dress in order to steady herself.

“I am so sorry Loki,” she mumbled, not meeting his eye. Loki’s stomach dropped and his heart clenched in his chest.

“Sorry?” he wondered, a line forming between his thin brows. “Sorry for what?”

Sigyn pressed her lips together and Loki knew that something was seriously wrong. She never liked to tell him anything that might upset or hurt him. There were so many horrible possibilities running through Loki’s head and all of them had to do with Thor.

“Sigyn, what is it?” Loki demanded, putting pressure on her delicate shoulders. When she remained stubbornly silent, Loki lost his patience. “TELL ME!” he yelled shaking her roughly.

“It’s Thor!” she yelled back, finally looking at him.

Loki froze.

Thor? What happened to his brother?

“He…Thor has fallen,” she explained when Loki remained silently stunned, her voice choked with emotion.

“Tell me Sigyn,” Loki said woodenly, staring straight above her head. “Is my brother dead?”

“No!” She head quickly, drawing Loki’s gaze back to hers. “He isn’t dead! Just captured or at least that is what they are saying...” Sigyn bit her lower lip worryingly to get herself to stop talking.

“Who is saying that?” Loki wanted to know, a feverish light brightening his green eyes.

“I heard it from Lady Frigga,” Sigyn explained. “She was told right before she went to the council chambers.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “What else did you hear?” he wanted to know. There was something in Sigyn’s face that told him that she wasn’t telling him everything. And he would know. Loki knew every line, angle, plain, and expression of that face and what each one meant. How could he not? Hers was the only kind face he found in Asgard. But now that kind face was trying desperately to protect him from the pain of the truth.

And that only made him angry.

“Sigyn!” Loki snapped when she didn’t answer him quickly enough. Sigyn jumped as if Loki had lashed out at her. He’d never taken that tone with her before. It scared her.

“They aren’t going to rescue him,” she admitted finally.

Cold anger washed over Loki’s flesh and chilled his veins. “WHAT?” he roared.

Loki didn’t wait for Sigyn to explain any further before he stormed past her. He didn’t even stop when she called out after him. Ikol cawed and swooped above him, leading Loki’s war path as he strode into the great hall leading towards the council chamber of the gods. His face was a mask of pure rage.

How _dare_ they not go and rescue their king! His brother! He was the Mighty Thor! How could they not want to do everything in their power to save him?

Loki fumed all the way to the massive double doors that barred his way. Two guards posted outside of the doors watched his approach. They used their spears to block his way as Loki drew nearer.

“You cannot enter!” one of the guards, Loki didn’t care which, told him angrily.

Without stopping, Loki ignored their warning and ducked under the spears, much to their surprise. When he was past, he used both hands to shove the great doors open with an effort fueled by rage.

They swung open wide and rebounded off the walls. Loki wouldn’t be surprised if he made a mark on the walls or the door. He hoped he did.

Balder was at the forefront of the massive stone table at the center of the room where it was mounted upon a dais lit under the light shining in from the high windows around the circumference of the room. Balder made where he was standing seem like the head of the table though it was round and there was no head of the table.

He was cut off mid-sentence when Loki stormed into the chamber.

“You have no right to-”

“Shut up,” Loki said without raising his voice.

The shock of his rudeness commanded the attention of the room. But Balder was more thickheaded than that.

“How _DARE_ you speak to me that way!” he bellowed.

“I’d prefer not to have to speak to you at all,” Loki replied, still keeping his composure though he was seething inside. “However, since you are all traitors, I’m forced before you now.”

“Traitors?” Ve, brother of Odin and uncle to Thor repeated as if he hadn’t heard Loki the first time. He rose to stand beside Balder. “That is a serious charge.”

“And I am justified in accusing it,” Loki snarled. “It has come to my understanding that Thor has been captured by the enemy and you refuse to rescue him. Is that not true?”

“Thor has indeed fallen,” Freyja confirmed. “But there is nothing we can do to get him back.”

“You mean nothing you are willing to do because you are all _cowards!_ ” Loki snapped. Then he looked at each and every one of their faces. There was something in their expressions that Loki had never seen before.

It was fear. They were afraid. But they were the gods! What had they to fear?

“What has got your tail between your legs?” Loki demanded, disgust in his bearing. “Who is this enemy?”

“That is of none of your concern,” Balder said while clenching his fists.

“Thor is my brother! It is of my concern!”

“You forget,” Balder said with sickening smugness, “That Thor isn’t really your brother.”

Loki’s angry expression fell from his face to be replaced by a pale and very alone little boy without his big brother there to protect him.

Loki swallowed his unease. He refused to give up when Thor’s life was in peril. “You are the gods,” he began with a more appealing tone. “Midgard is under our protection. You _have_ to go after Thor and defeat this enemy!”

“Thor, the best of us, has fallen to the Serpent.” Freyja felt obliged to point out. “What makes you think we can defeat him when he cannot? Not even with the Avengers on his side?”

_The Serpent?_ Loki wondered. Is that who they were up against?

Freyja shook her head, not catching her own slip up of information. “The Avengers must defeat this enemy on their own, for if we open the Bifrost, the enemy will cease control of it and then have access to all other realms _including_ Asgard,” she emphasized. “Call us traitors, but we are trying to protect all the other realms under our protection. It’s what Thor would have wanted.”

Loki clenched his fists in frustration. “Are you not even willing to try?”

“No,” Balder snapped angrily. “Now leave this chamber before I have you thrown out.”

“There has to be another way to get to Midgard without using the Bifrost!” Loki reasoned, growing desperate.

“Guards!” Balder bellowed.

“We can find another way!” Loki pleaded, ignoring Balder. “I can help!”

Rough hands clamped down on his shoulders. Loki turned his head to either side to see the guards that had been trying to keep him from the chamber now trying to drag him away.

“Get your hands off me,” Loki commanded through clenched teeth while trying to wrestle himself from their grip. “I am a god, you dull creatures! And I will not be bullied by-”

_Thwak!_

Loki dropped to the floor unconscious. Balder gave the spear back to the guard with a satisfied sneer on his bearded face.

“I’ve waited a long time to do that,” he admitted and the council room filled with quietly uneasy laughter. “Take him to the dungeons.”

    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my loyal and wonderful readers! Just wanted to take a moment and thank you for sticking with the story this far! We still have a long way to go! And remember, I appreciate your thoughts and encouragements more than anything! So THANK YOU!


	9. So He Speaks

_So He Speaks_

Loki woke on his side with his forehead pressed against the stony floor. The back of his head throbbed painfully, but he was too groggy to move. It didn’t help that his head also felt as if it were filled with rocks, too heavy to lift anyway.

The only thing he could do was open his eyes. But when he did, his vision was too blurred to make anything out in the darkness. The only solemn light came somewhere from behind him, but that hardly helped ease the shadows.

“Loki?” a small, softly spoken voice called out as he began to stir in earnest. Tilting his head, Loki looked further into the gloom to the figure standing just beyond the edge of the light. What he saw sent a shock right through him. He had to lift his head and squint past the dust swirling against the canvas of shadows to see the one standing behind the bars.

_Golden._

“Frigga?” Loki mumbled, confused.

Nervous laughter. “Balder must have hit you harder than I thought if you think I’m Lady Frigga.”

It was Sigyn! Loki forced himself into a sitting position while he gingerly rubbed the back of his head. He could have sworn he saw Frigga standing there. Was it something out of his memories? But why would she of all people ever come and visit him in a cell? Why would he be in a cell in the first place?

“What happened?” Loki asked as he attempted to get on his feet without first falling on his face.

“They said you went mad.” Sigyn stepped forward and clutched the bars when Loki approached, her hands startlingly white against the iron. “Accusing them of being traitors and cowards. Balder knocked you on the back of your head and then they dragged you here. I snuck down to see if you were alright.”

“That would explain why my head hurts, that ball-less bastard.” Loki used one hand to nurse the back of his aching head while the other gripped the bar just above Sigyn’s hand. “They won’t do anything, Sig. Not a damn thing.” The anger and frustration made his voice raw. The powerlessness to do anything to help Thor baited him. All those years Thor used his power to protect him and what good had that done for either of them? The gods resented Thor for sheltering Loki and Loki had their unabated loathing because his brother always stood up for him.

Loki cursed silently to himself.

He’d warned Thor about fighting all his battles for him. Now look at the mess they were in… 

“I wish there was something that I could do,” Sigyn mumbled, disheartened.

Loki looked at her again, his green eyes flashing through the bars of his cell. He slid his hand down the bar, the sound of the cold metal against his skin rung like tiny bells. Loki covered her hand with his. She was so warm, always so warm. Sigyn, that bright lure of freedom just within his reach, ever consistent in her friendship and loyalty. What had he ever done to make her trust him as she did? And how could he ask of her what he knew he must?

“There is something you can do to help me, Sigyn,” Loki said gazing at her intently. She glanced up at him, her expression hopeful. “And I hate to have to ask you to do this,” he frowned, “but you are all I have, and you alone hold all my trust.” Loki reached his hand through the bars and cupped her pale cheek in his palm, the tips of his fingers brushing against her ear. “I need you to free me.”

Determination set Sigyn’s jaw and her dark eyes shone in the dim light. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She turned to leave, but Loki grabbed her hand before she went too far out of his reach. Sigyn whipped back around, confusion furrowing her perfectly smooth brow.

“Be careful,” Loki said, his voice thick. He was humbled by her lack of hesitation to do this and he would never forgive himself if anything happened to her because of him.

Sigyn favored him with a bright smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.” She let go of his hand then she was gone.

Loki slumped his forehead against the bars and closed his eyes.

Now all he had to do was hope and wait. And plan what to do once he was out of this cell. How was he going to get to Midgard? The Bifrost was surely closed to him. There was no way Heimdall was going to open it for him. That guy hated his guts more than anyone else in Asgard.  

There was a soft fluttering that broke Loki’s thoughts and a loud click as talons met metal. Loki glanced up to see Ikol perched on the bars above his head, staring at him.

“Ikol!” Loki gaped. “What are you doing here?” He stepped back from the bars to get a better look at the bird. “And where have you been!”    

_“There is another way to Midgard,”_ the disembodied voice of the bird said. Its voice was flat and imposing, not what he would expect from the Raven.

“So he speaks,” Loki observed gloomily. That was just what he needed. A talking Raven on top of everything else. “What are you saying about another way to Midgard?”

_“Seek the aide of Hela.”_

“Hela?” Loki frowned. “Ruler of Hel and Niffleheim? Why would I want her help?”

_“Seek the aide of Hela and she can show you the way_ .”

Loki scoffed. Hela was a force not to be taken lightly. She was the Goddess of Death! “How would I even get to Hel? It’s about as impossible as getting to Midgard without the Bifrost!”

_“Free the Hel wolf.”_

“The Hel wo-”

“Loki!” Sigyn breathed in a loud whisper as she appeared at the bars of his cell once more. Loki heard the key being slid into the lock. When he glanced up to where Ikol had been, he was gone. Sigyn swung open the door and waited for him to step out. “Who were you talking to,” she wanted to know as Loki came before her.

Loki grabbed her and took her in his arms, burying his face in her dark hair. “Thank you, Sigyn.”

He felt her tense briefly, surprised by his sudden affection. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, like she had so many times before. Loki held her tighter to himself and squeezed his eyes shut.

Thinking on what Ikol said before, he suddenly knew what he had to do in order to save Thor…and he was frightened. He would have to forge a path on his own alone.

As he pulled her back he said, “I have to go.”

“Go?” Sigyn asked, her expression growing concerned. “Go where?”

“I can’t tell you that-”

“Let me go with you!” Sigyn interrupted, clutching his arms eagerly. Loki stared at her, his mouth agape. Her eyes sparkled with the prospect, but Loki looked away. He had no idea what laid in store for him or what he would have to do in order to save his brother, but he knew it was going to be dangerous. There was no way he was going to let himself even entertain the thought of putting her though any of that.

On a whim, Loki grabbed the back of Sigyn’s neck and pulled her closer. He slammed his lips onto hers before she could know what he was doing.

When their lips touched, Loki’s mind went blank. He was actually kissing her. Loki couldn’t believe it himself. But when else was he going to get the chance?

This was goodbye wasn’t it?

Sigyn stiffened as Loki ran his hand down her arm and held the keys still in her hand. He pulled back and bored his green eyes into hers. “Go, Sigyn.” He took the keys from her hand. “Go.”

“But Loki I-”

Loki grabbed her face in his hands, the keys dangling from his thumb. “GO.”

Tears filled Sigyn’s eyes, but she did as he asked and turned to retreat down the hall.

Loki watched her go, the feel of her lips haunting him.       

When she was gone, Ikol came out of nowhere and landed on his shoulder, reminding him of what he had to do.

_Free the Hel wolf._


	10. Freedom is Servitude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I thought I'd put something up to keep me going since I'm working through Writer's-I-Don't-Wanna-Write Block. 
> 
> The only cure is your feedback! I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the story! I'm even open to suggestions and betas (since I'm self editing and no one reads this before it's posted)! 
> 
> Your enthusiasm for this story makes my life, so THANK YOU! 
> 
> Love, Summer
> 
> p.s I am also aware that the Hel Wolf isn't named Garm in JIM, but since she and Thori are not going to be in the story, I thought I'd throw that in there.

_Freedom is Servitude_

Loki ran his fingers along the walls of the corridor leading deeper into the bowels of Asgard. His black boots grinded against a layer of fine sand on top the stones that made up the floor. Torches lit his way, flickering back and forth and making the shadows dance. Loki had jumped once or twice imaging something leaping out at him. He kept expecting to run into a guard or two, but he never did. There was no one down here except for the solitary prisoner. It seemed that being forgotten was its punishment.

Ikol sat perfectly at ease upon his shoulder, silent. As they neared the end of the curving hall, Loki began to hear a faint rumbling. He stopped as he came to a stone arched gap in the wall where he was able to look down into the crater of a prison.

The Hel wolf was alone in his cage, pacing. The rumbling Loki had heard was the wolf muttering to himself. Loki had to step closer and lean in through the arch to understand what it was saying.

“DEATH TO ASGARD,” he spat. “Curse them all. They will all bleed and grind to dust beneath my claws……”

Loki stepped back from the wall with wide eyes.

The Hel Wolf was formidable with its size and appearance alone. Its short snout was overflowing with sharp teeth, just waiting for an opportunity to rip something apart.

“How exactly am I supposed to convince this thing to help me?” Loki hissed at Ikol who fluttered impatiently on his shoulder.

“You’re clever,” Ikol rasped. “You will think of something.” Before Loki could protest, Ikol launched himself off his shoulder and disappeared into the darkness.

“Unhelpful sack of feathers,” Loki muttered under his breath.

Taking a deep breath of foul air, Loki lifted his hood to cover his black hair before descending further into the chamber. He stepped loudly meaning for the Wolf to hear his approach. The Hel Wolf whipped around with a horrendous growl.

“WHO DARES COMES BEFORE ME?”

Loki forced his feet to carry him forward without trembling.

He shouldn’t be here, he suddenly realized. This was not only stupid, but dangerous. What would the Asgardians think if they saw him down here attempting to free the Hel Wolf?

 _No,_ Loki frowned. _They forced my hand. They refused to help me save my brother so now I have to enlist those who will._

“Loki,” he said, his voice loud and clear, free of any fear he felt. “I’ve come to spring you.” Loki lifted the keys given to him by Sigyn with a little jangle. He smiled his teeth flashing. In truth, his heart was racing, ready to beat right out of his chest.

 _I’m doing this for Thor,_ he reminded himself.

“Loki…” The Hel Wolf rumbled, tasting the word as if he were tasting flesh. “Why would the god of mischief be needing to free me?” he wondered as if he already knew. “To burn and destroy I hope.”

“Perhaps,” Loki replied nonchalantly. “However, I require a service of another nature.”

“Then you are out of luck, little god, for those are the only services I will be rendering for any Asgardian,” the Hel Wolf snapped. Loki tisked and shook his head.

“Ah, but prisoners cannot choose how their freedom is procured,” Loki wiggled the keys in his hands, letting the sound leap off the stone walls of the prison. “Now I can leave you down here to rot and wallow in your filth, plotting a revenge you will never see come to fruition, or…” Loki dragged out the word, letting it hang between them. The Hel Wolf silently, begrudgingly met his eye. “Or, in return for your freedom you can swear you’ll serve me.”

Something that sounded like a laugh erupted from the Wolf. “You really think I will exchange this prison for another? Serve you? BAH!”

Frustration bit at Loki’s patience. “Freedom _is_ servitude, Hel Wolf,” Loki scowled, lowering the keys to his side as he leaned closer. “Now you can take your changes with me and get a chance to enact your revenge on the Asgardians for imprisoning you or stay here where you never will. Make your choice and remember you will never get an offer like this again.”

The Hel Wolf was silent, seemingly considering Loki’s words.

“Free me,” he finally said. Loki let out the breath he had been holding.

“That’s what I was hoping to hear,” he said holding the golden key to the cell’s lock. “And in return you will serve me, yes?”

“…yes,” was the reluctant reply.

Loki was not convinced. This was a creature of Hel and he wasn’t to be trusted just on his word alone.

“Swear it,” Loki demanded wrenching the key away from the lock. “Swear a binding oath upon your very soul.”

“I will serve you. May my soul wither away to ashes if what I speak is not true.”

Satisfied, but only just, Loki opened the door to the Hel Wolf’s cell with a loud click. As soon as it was opened, the Hel Wolf jumped out, knocking Loki off his feet.

“MY SOUL WAS DESTROYED BY THE SLATTERN BITCHES OF MEPHISTOS! SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?” the Hel Wolf laughed.

Loki scrabbled to his feet as the Hel Wolf lunged again. He ran to the side, just as the Wolf slammed himself into the bars.

Ikol flew from wherever he had been hiding and dropped something in the path that Loki was running. As he drew nearer, he saw that it was a rope. While the Hel Wolf regained his wits, Loki swooped down and picked it up. When the Wolf ran for him again, Loki was able to use the rope to lasso around the giant wolf’s maw.

The Hel Wolf had not been expecting Loki to be able to slip the rope into his mouth as he swung himself up onto his back. He trashed and roared his anger at being so easily ensnared. The magical quality of the rope kept it from snapping against the sheer force of his anger or from being cut to ribbons against his teeth.

Loki held on for dear life until the Hel Wolf finally accepted defeat.

“What do you wish from me, you thrice cursed tyrant?” he heaved, gasping for breath.

“What I asked.” Loki reminded him, smiling through his discomfort. “And let’s make it total servitude for trying to kill me.”

“Yes, Master,” the Hel Wolf groaned, lifting himself to his feet. “For as long as I live, I will dream of what it will be like to tear you in half.”

Loki gripped the rope tighter to quell the rising dread. “That will do. Now,” Loki shifted on his back into a more comfortable position. “To work! Can you guess where we are going Hel Wolf?”

“I dare to even speculate, meat,” the Hel wolf grumbled.

“The clue is in your name, Hel Wolf. You’re going home.”

“Home,” the Wolf rumbled. “What a sight that will be. And my name is not Hel Wolf. It is Garm.”

“Well then Garm. To Hel we go.”

As Garm bore the way out of the prison, Loki felt his adrenaline plummet.

He had no idea where any of his prior courage had come from. He had subdued a Hel Wolf all on his own and now it served him. What would Thor think about that…and much less Sigyn? Loki had no clue he had that in him to accomplish such a thing. He could only guess what other things he might discover about himself before this was all over.

Loki looked to the darkening sky to see Ikol soaring overhead and thought of the last words his former self had said to him…

_“You and I are one, little Loki. Whatever mistakes I’ve made are ours to share. Your fate and mine are intertwined. Whether you wish it or not.”_

Loki clenched his jaw and forced himself to look ahead.

 _I will be different this time,_ he vowed. However, he could not stop himself from worrying about the path he had chosen to take in order to save his brother.

Was there another way than this? Other than betraying Asgard?

 _No,_ a voice he thought was his own said. _There was never any other way._

               


	11. One Hundred and One Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I am so sorry this took so long to post and it isn't even very long! Inspiration was in short supply this time, but I hope that will be over soon. I've just had so many things to write that I opted to write nothing. Yeah, because that makes sense. 
> 
> ANy who, thanks again for reading! Your support and comments are greatly appreciated!

One Hundred and One Days

 

Hel wasn’t anything Loki was expecting it to be. Standing on a precipice over the realm, Loki could see much. To one side looked as one might think of when imagining Hell. All bright red fire and burning suffering. Loki sneered at that. _How predictable._

To the other side, however, was desolate and grey. Empty. There didn’t seem to be any substance to it. Just hard, unrelenting rock. There was no feeling to it, not like the burning passion for pain coming from the burning realm. There was just…nothing.

A shiver ran up Loki’s spine. That Hel was more intimidating to him than all the bluster of the other Hell.

“Where to, meat?” the Hel wolf demanded. Loki ignored the barb and opened his mouth to tell him when he suddenly snapped his jaw shut. He himself had no idea.

“Give me a moment,” he grumbled, trying to buy himself time. That was when Ikol flew in front of his face, nearly knocking him off the Helwolf’s back. Loki’s eyes followed the bird’s flight path until he disappeared around the bend to his left.

Dismounting, Loki followed. The Helwolf’s unhappy growl rumbled after him, one that he blatantly ignored. Loki took the path that led him away from the precipice and closer to the nothingness of Hela’s hell. His narrowed eyes searched for the mysterious bird and found him resting silently upon a ledge jutting out of the side of the cliff walls that rose up around them.

“What is it now, Ikol?” Loki called up to him. “You only ever bother me when you want something, so out with it.”

At first Ikol said nothing and stared at him with those fathomless black eyes. Then, with a twitch of his narrow head, he said, “You didn’t think you could just walk into Hela’s realm and demand that she help you, did you?”

Loki clenched his gloved hands into fists. “You dragged me down here just so you could tell me that she won’t even help me?” That cold anger buried deep inside him made his eyes burn.

“I never said that she wouldn’t help you, little Loki,” Ikol crooned. “I only inform you that her help will not come without a price.”

Loki turned away from the bird sharply and paced the space before the bird looking down at him from the ledge. He ripped off his hood in one swift and frustrated movement. His nearly shoulder length black hair fell in his eyes. He should have had Sigyn cut it before he left. The thought of Sigyn made his gut clench. The look on her face, the touch of her lips…

Loki ground his teeth. There was no time to think about that. He would go back once he had Thor and not a moment before.

“And pray tell, Almighty Magpie,” Loki snapped. “What price would that be?”

“The Disir.”

Loki stopped his incessant pacing to glance up at Ikol. “The what?”

“Soul eaters.” He explained tersely, as if Loki should have already known this. And maybe he should have, in another life perhaps. “Valkyries, cursed by Bor for eating the gods. They are in the hands of Mephisto.”

Loki looked over his shoulder before he turned away from Ikol and paced to the edge of the cliff he stood upon to peer out over the burning realm far to his right. “Mephisto…” he said the name as if he were testing the sound of it on his lips, trying to see if they remembered saying it before. The name turned in his mind like an echo without an origin.

“Yes, the ruler of Hell.” Ikol reminded him. “You had lent him the Disir for one hundred and one days. Those one hundred and one days have come and gone. It is time you reclaimed them. Use them as your bargaining chip to place Hela in a position where she has to lend you her aid.”

Loki found himself nodding along to Ikol’s plan. He stilled his head and glanced over his shoulder at the bird with a mischievous smile on his lips. “My how cunning you are, Ikol.”

“I learned from the best,” Ikol quipped before lifting himself into the air and flying off to only the gods knew where.

Loki watched his retreat with his thin lips pressed tightly together. He raised his hands and lifted his hood to cover his head once more, his narrowed and angry eyes never leaving the bird’s fleeting form.

Silently, he returned to the Helwolf, who sat chewing on something that Loki didn’t want to look close enough to identify. He spat it out over the cliff when he saw Loki approaching.

“I was hoping you would not return,” he said. Something like amusement at his own words spread across his foul face.

“Ah, well then you would miss me too much,” Loki replied with feigned lightheartedness as he mounted the HelWolf’s back. His heart was anything but light at this point. Before Garm could make another attempt at insulting him, Loki said, “It looks like we’re going to have to make a pit stop in Mephisto’s realm. It seems I have forgotten something.”

Garm grumbled, as he so frequently did and leaped off the cliff, away from the cold and distant feeling realm of Hela and into the Inferno of Mephisto’s Hell.    

    


	12. The Devil's Work

_ The Devil’s Work _

 

Garm wasn’t gentle when he landed at the bottom of the pit. The heat was barely tolerable and Loki began to sweat, however he refused to lower his hood or remove his gloves. They were like a layer of armor protecting him from the flames that licked at the path leading to Mephisto’s lair. It lay just ahead, rising up like a gnarled hand out of a lake of fire.

Steeling himself, Loki removed himself from the Helwolf’s back and touched his feet to the ground. “I can walk from here,” he told Garm without looking at him. “Amuse yourself while I speak to the Master.”

With that, he left the wolf muttering insults to himself. He walked the path alone to the cave entrance. Sweat that Loki began to think had less to do with the heat trickled down his back. The vast cavern, though bare of flames was uncomfortably warm. Loki felt as if he were walking through a desert. The red stone floor was worn smooth under his booted feet and the walls of the cave rose high above his head. There were no guards to meet him as he traversed further into the cave, which Loki did not find surprising, especially when he saw who were sitting at the feet of Mephisto himself.

_The Disir_.

The ruler of Hell sat encompassed upon his throne carved right from the stone rising all around him. Chained upon the steps of his dais sat two emaciated women. They were thin and their skin was grey with sunken eyes that glowed red. Burnished armor clung to their withered frames. Loki had enough sense to know to fear them, however it was hard when they looked like animated corpses he could fell with a mere gust of wind.

Mephisto, the Lord of Hell, the only hell he believed mattered, crossed his long legs and folded his hands in his lap, waiting for Loki to come closer. A smile played on his thin lips and his eyes glowed like the birth of flame. He wore all red formal attire in the style of the Midgardians with his red hair slicked back behind the horns that stuck out of either side of his head.

Loki approached on wooden legs, his posture stiff. He didn’t remember Mephisto no matter what Ikol said about them making a deal before. It didn’t matter if Loki remembered him or not. He was here for one thing and one thing only. The Disir. He would do or say anything to get them back because that would mean he was one step closer to saving Thor. Loki stopped and stood as close as he dared to Mephisto’s throne. Glancing up from under his hood, he met the Lord of Hell’s eye.

I can pretend to be as much as a villain as anyone, Loki told himself.

“Loki!” Mephisto drawled, peering down his nose at him with a proper air of nobility and arrogance. “How surprising. I was somewhat hurt that you hadn’t presented yourself before my court already. I’m happy to see you make amends. Please,” he said, tilting his head slightly, “let me get one of the girls to bring you a drink…”

Loki peered at Mephisto, scrutinizing his manner. Though it seemed as if Mephisto were insulting him, he wasn’t exactly. It seemed like Mephisto respected him enough not to be to outwardly rude. Or maybe that was just how Mephisto was all the time.

“Er…no thank you,” Loki said finally. “Business beckons.” Something occurred to Loki that Mephisto might know something of the Serpent that threatens Midgard and his brother. He hadn’t thought to gain any outside information about his enemy. It wasn’t as if he had anyone to ask until now. “You know of this Serpent?”

“I do,” Mephisto admitted. “He wants to usurp the whole of Asgard, does he not?” A chuckle escaped the Lord of Hell’s lips, “There’s a tune I’ve heard before.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, but decided to ignore the barb that was meant for him. “Do you have an opinion of him?” Loki wanted to know.

“Aye, but as long as he stays to his own domain, it’s his domain…” Mephisto said sounding as if that was all he had to say on the matter. “But still,” he continued to Loki’s surprise. “He appears to be in possession of a somewhat aggressive nature. Those types of character demand expansion. Conservative gods such as Odin and his Kin maintain a status quo. This Serpent, I suspect has ideas above his station. The Mighty Thor or the Serpent, better the Devil,” Mephisto sneered. “But that leads to another pertinent question, Little Loki.” The Lord of Hell leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knee as he peered at Loki. “Which devil are you?”

Loki turned his head away and blocked out the image of the former Loki standing in his place, replacing him.

That wasn’t him anymore. That wasn’t who he wanted to be. He couldn’t let him win. The temptation of recruiting Mephisto to overtake Asgard for his own, just as Mephisto was implying, all in the name of saving Thor, taunted Loki.

Loki turned his green eyed gaze back to Mephisto, his face dower. He decided to overlook the question in favor of asking one of his own. “When do I get my girls back?” he demanded without sounding like he was demanding.

Mephisto sat back in his throne, an amused glint in his fire born eyes. “They died in Hell,” he told him. “They’re mine now.”

Frustration as well as anger flared up within Loki. He wasn’t leaving here without the Disir. He needed them and Mephisto’s reluctance to give them back revealed to Loki just how valuable they were.

Now was the time to be cunning.

“Firstly,” Loki droned. “That you took such bad care of them doesn’t exactly endear you to me, Mephisto. Yes they were skin and bones before, but I didn’t want them dead.” He stepped closer to the first step of Mephisto’s throne and continued, “Secondly, their untimely passing just means they are subjects of hell. They are still under my ultimate control.”

Loki hesitated right before Mephisto’s throne. “Return them to me and I will make certain this Serpent is contained or better yet destroyed.”   


The Lord of Hell leaned back in his throne and placed a hand on top the Disir’s head, seemingly contemplating. He flicked his unwavering gaze to Loki and frowned. “It pains to me part with them, but I see that I have no other choice. A bargain is a bargain. Take them,” he said casually, removing his hand from her head.

Loki expression was grim, but he forced a smile anyway. Now that he had the Disir on his side, he could bargain with Hela. One Devil down, and how many more before this was done? 


	13. Swords, Schemes, and Skepticism

 

            When he emerged from the pit of the cave, Ikol was waiting for him. The Disir were released to do what it is half dead creatures do until Loki summoned them. For what, he was still frightfully unaware. He stopped at the mouth of the cave to speak with the mysterious bird.

“What was the point of me releasing them from Mephisto’s care?” Loki wanted to know exactly.

“Seek the Sword of Twilight,” was Ikol’s unhelpful reply before flying off and leaving him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Loki called after him to no avail. The Sword of Twilight? Was that what was going to help him defeat the Serpent? It sounded useful.  

Garm was still there in the path, not having found anything else to do but lay down and rest. He lifted his enormous head when he saw Loki returning.

“Don’t tell me,” Loki said humorlessly before Garm could say anything. “You were hoping once again that I was not going to return.”

“Or that you were dead.”

“Right,” Loki said before pulling himself onto Garm’s back. “Take us into Hela’s realm.”

With little more grumbling, Garm did as he was bid to do. As they retreated out of Mephisto’s Hell, the air began to cool around them, the ground turned into a barren wasteland of grey broken and jagged ash. It was almost hard to breathe. Even Garm slowed his gait, his great head sagging. Ikol flew above, his wings a flash of black, his caw an echo against the emptiness.

After what felt like miles of nothingness, the ruins of a once great fortress appeared in the distance against a vengeful sky.

“Stop,” he told Garm. “I’ll walk from here.”

“Suit yourself.”

Loki approached from there with Ikol flying ever watchful ahead. He made his way through the rubble into the desolation of Hela’s court. Her throne pressed back against the only standing wall, its pillars crumbling. The steps leading to it were cracked. When Loki came closer he noticed someone standing near Hela’s seat.

She had hair black enough to rival Ikol’s feathers. Her face was pale, making the green of her eyes glow. Her green dress encompassed her from high collared neck to the hem dragging on the floor. Prude wasn’t the only word that came to mind when watching her stare down her nose at him.

Loki stopped within speaking distance. “Hello,” he began, feeling a bit odd. Her frigidness didn’t make it any easier. “I seek an audience with the Lady Hela.”

“She’s busy,” the girl that didn’t appear to be a whole lot older than him replied.

“Well can you tell her that Loki is here to see her on _very_ important business?” Loki tried.

“I cannot,” she told him with tight lips.

“You can’t or you won’t?” The girl narrowed her eyes at him. Loki raised his hands apologetically. “Okay, how about we start over. I’m Loki, and you are…?”

“Annoyed.”

“Clearly,” Loki shot back, losing grip on his patience. “Look, can’t you just go tell her that I’m here? It’s important that I speak with her.”

“There’s no need,” the girl informed him coolly. “She already knows.”

At that moment a swirling green portal edged with the deepest black appeared on the wall beside Hela’s seat. A woman stepped through with a nearly fluid motion. Her green dress draped over her breasts and dipped lowly on her back. The crown upon her silken black hair spiked out behind her head. Her eyes briefly glowed red before dimming to glow green.

She hardly glanced at Loki before turning to sit upon her throne. The silk of her dress rippled down the steps.

“Loki Laufeyson,” she paused, “or is it Odinson? I can’t keep up with which side you’re on.”

Loki  tried to cover his grimace with amusement.  “Loki will do just fine, Lady Hela.”

“Why are you here?” she demanded. “I’m busy and have little time or patience to listen your schemes.”

“I assure you that you’ll want to hear what I have to say. I’m certain you’ve become aware of the one known as the Serpent.”

Hela leaned back to drape herself across her throne. “Indeed I have. I’ve been in conference with his emissary.”

The information sent a shock through Loki as if he’d suddenly been plunged into frigid water. He’d felt like he’d walked into a trap. Loki had a sudden suspicion Ikol knew about this information and withheld it intentionally.  He’d have a few words with that stupid bird sooner rather than later.

“Oh?” Loki said shortly to cover his shock. “And what does the Serpent wish of you?”

“He’s come to ask which side I propose to take in the impending war. He wishes to form an alliance.” Hela gestured to the girl standing on her right side. “Leah here thinks I should take him up on his offer to align himself with me. Maybe then I can finally destroy your friend Mephisto once and for all?”

Loki tisked and shook his head. “You don’t want to do that,” he told her.

“And why not?” she demanded.

“I really don’t think you’re so dense that you believe he’d ever actually form an alliance with you.”

“Watch yourself, Trickster.”

Loki ignored the jab, driving his words into her thick head. “Despite what you believe, the Serpent’s just seeing how much effort he’s going to have to exert when _screwing you over._ ”

Hela leaned forward, frowning deeply. He could tell he was getting to her. She believed Loki was privy to some information that she wasn’t. Loki was simply putting two and two together. Mephisto had revealed to him that the Serpent was in possession of an somewhat aggressive nature. A type that demanded expansion. For now he was battling for Midgard and winning. It was only a matter of time before he set his eyes on other realms next. 

“Think about it,” he urged her. “The Serpent intends to take Asgard. What makes you think he won’t take Hell just as forcibly? Alliance or no, he will take Hell and leave you realmless.”

Leah scowled just as harshly as her mistress.

“And what do you suggest?

Loki hesitated. What was he suggesting? It was obvious to him that the Serpent wasn’t keen on keeping up any alliances once he had what he wanted. Loki’s only option was to stop the Serpent from gaining any more power. Then and only then would he be able to save Thor. Since no good men would help him do that, he’d have to recruit some bad ones.

He’d come this far and what wasn’t he willing to do to save his brother?

“Cut off the head of the snake, if you will,” Loki grinned.

“Kill the Serpent,” Hela said incredulously. “Thor wasn’t able to defeat him,” she pointed out. “What makes you think you can?”

“With your help of course.” Hela looked skeptical, distrustful even. Loki didn’t want to lose her. Without her aid, there was no hope of saving Thor. “I need the Sword of Twilight.”

Hela shook her head and laughed. “You must be mad,” she told him. “Surtur has claim on the Sword of Twilight. Not I.”

Frustration made Loki’s jaw clench. “If you help me get it, I will get rid of the imminent threat upon your realm. I will leave four of the Disir to patrol your borders to protect you from the Serpent and Mephisto. All I ask is that you help me get that sword.”

“Why should I trust you to be so charitable? That there is not some other scheme involved in you obtaining that sword?”

Loki visibly settled back into himself. “Saving Thor is my only concern. The rest is all meaningless.”

Something flashed across Hela’s eyes. A sort of knowing that made Loki feel exposed.

“Leah will show you the way. She will see you through until your task is finished.”

It was Loki’s turn to be skeptical. “Why?”

“Leah will make certain you keep your word to me.” She rose up out of her seat. “And you seem like you could use all the help you can get.” 


	14. A Lie for a Sword

The Desir were summoned to Hela’s court. Loki ordered them to watch Hela’s borders just as he promised. When they were dispatched Hela turned to Leah.

“Show him the way. And make certain he doesn’t do anything particularly stupid.”

Leah nodded and Hela left the court the way she had come, barely sparing Loki a glance before disappearing into her swirling portal. There was a palpable silence after she left. Loki shifted on his feet under Leah’s narrowed gaze.

“Shall we get going?” he asked casually. Leah descended the steps tensely. “And where exactly are we going?” Loki wanted to know as she glided past him. He turned to follow her, jogging a little to catch up.

“To Limbo,” Leah informed him shortly.

“Limbo, huh.” Loki muttered assuming that’s where Surtur was with the Twilight Sword. They walked in silence north of the fortress, opposite the direction he had come and deeper into Hela’s realm.  They ventured into a dead forest, burned into twisted, agonized shapes and covered in ash.  Nothing moved. Nothing seemed to be alive anywhere. Ikol wasn't even wafting through the trees. A shiver ran up Loki’s spine, his unease bothering him. “Are we going to walk there?” Loki inquired once they cleared the trees.

“We’re already here,” Leah informed him dryly. Loki furrowed his brow and looked ahead of them, confused. There was nothing but a ledge to a cliff side with a perilous drop. When Loki peered over the edge to try and make out the bottom, there was nothing to see but a thick white fog.

“Step back from there and follow me before I give into the urge to push you off.” Loki jumped back, not putting it past her to actually shove him off.  He complied by following after her, frowning. Just around the bend was a narrow pathway suspended over the ledge like a broken bridge to nowhere. Leah strode up to the base of the path and waved her hand. Darkness swirled at the end of it. It slowly took the shape of a yawning door, beyond, Loki could only make out the faint glow of fire.

Leah stepped onto the bridge leading to nowhere and walked up to the door shaped in darkness. Loki ran to intercept her, grabbing her shoulder to draw her back.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” He quickly removed his hand from her shoulder before she could relieve him of his fingers. “You aren’t coming with me are you?”

Leah lifted a skeptical brow at him. “Lady Hela told me to see you through until your task was finished,” she reminded him.

Loki stared back at her with the same skeptical expression. “Until we get the sword or until I save Thor?”

Leah hesitated, her expression wavering momentarily. “Let us just get the sword,” she answered uncertainly.

“Well then,” Loki replied, just as uncertainly. “After you.”

Leah stepped through, followed momentarily by Loki. He spared a quick glance behind him. He didn’t see Ikol anywhere and wondered where that dumb bird had gone off to.  They emerged onto a ledge that looked over the realm of Limbo. It was a land consumed in flames. He felt as if he were back in Mephisto's Hell except the feel of hostility was far more palpable. Fortresses of stone stood in ruins framed in those flames. If he looked close enough, he thought he could see figures crawling among the ruins.

“Demons,” Leah said answering his unasked question. “Limbo is an Other World home to demons. Surtur was exiled here. We’ll find him where the demons are not.” Leah turned to her right and began descending the narrow steps Loki hadn’t noticed before.

“Why do you think that?” Loki wanted to know. He really didn’t feel like wandering aimlessly around a demon realm looking for Surtur.

“Because he eats them.”

Loki shuttered to a stop mid step.

“Please tell me you obtained a sense of humor in the last two minutes.”

Leah continued walking down the steps, unphased. “It’s how he survives here. I’m sure a little godling like you would be a welcome change to his menu.”

Loki continued following Leah at a slower pace deciding that the sooner they get out of this place, the better.

For the most part Limbo was barren, but not as barren as Hela’s realm. There was the occasional glimpse of something skittering about in the scorched trees backlit by distant flames. They had to have been being followed.

A distant roar caught Loki off guard though it didn’t seem to phase Leah. She must have been here before. She probably had a summer home down here somewhere.

“What was that?” he asked, trying not to sound as frightened as he was.

“Who do you think?” she said over her shoulder. Surtur. They were getting close.  “Not having second thoughts are you?” Leah asked not even hiding her amusement. “We can always go back,” she offered cruelly.

Loki stopped, staring out into the woodland wasteland before them knowing Surtur was out there somewhere. He wasn’t afraid of Surtur he realized. He was afraid of himself and what he was going to do in order to save Thor and Asgard. The only family and home he’d ever known. He knew he was only pretending, using what people knew of his past self in order to get what he needed. But wasn’t that just what the other Loki wanted? Where was the line between who he was and who he was trying to be?

“I had no memory before Thor,” Loki surprised himself by saying. It must have surprised Leah too, for she said nothing. “When he found me, it was like waking up from a nightmare.” He looked at Leah, something bordering on desperation brightening this eyes. “I don’t want to go back to nightmares. No matter what I have to do.”

Leah shifted her eyes away uncomfortably.

“Before Hela,” she said roughly, “it was like I didn’t exist. I know nothing but her,” she paused to glare at Loki, but it was empty of the hostility he was used to. “I don’t want to imagine what that would be like to have that taken away.”

They stood there in that gods-forsaken place, reevaluating one another and finding a common ground. It was strange for both of them, not knowing much in the way of friends, but finding the idea far less repulsive than they thought.

“Let’s get this sword so we can get out of here,” Leah said abruptly turning and walking ahead.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Loki muttered, smiling.

That smile quickly faded however when he saw what they were walking into.

It was a giant wall of flame. Within, the fire demon Surtur. He was uglier than Loki had imagined. Big horns, skin redder than the worst sunburn, and eyes yellow as the sun. He was cloaked in flames so it was hard to tell Surtur’s shape. His tail whipped around as she smashed into a wall of rock with this fist.

Animal screams echoed over his laughter. When he retracted his fist from the stones, several demons squirmed in his grasp. Loki closed his eyes and looked away before he could see Surtur devour them.

“Here is your chance,” Leah said from behind him.

“What?” he spluttered. “You expect me to reason with that?” However when he turned around, Leah shoved him, exposing him to the eye of the demon. Loki stumbled to his feet and waved up awkwardly. “Hello Surtur.”

“WHAT’S THIS?” Surtur rumbled turning jauntily to peer down at Loki. “LOKI LAUFEYSON. AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?”

Loki shifted uncomfortably. It never did sit well with him that he had died and been brought back by his former self. “Apparently,” Loki focused on his task of retrieving the Twilight Sword. He wished he would have come up with a plan before Leah shoved him out there. Now he had to improvise. “I’ve come here to offer you a way out of your exile.”

The fire demon laughed. It shook the ground under Loki’s feet. “YOU ARE NOT THE LOKI I REMEMBER. I DIDN’T TRUST HIM, SO WHAT MAKES YOU BELIEVE I’M GOING TO TRUST YOU?”

“Because I need something you have and I am in a position to offer you freedom from your prison. Unless you like feasting on demons...”

Surtur narrowed his yellow eyes. “WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?”

Loki met his gaze. “I need the Twilight Sword.”

“YOU ASK MUCH. I WILL NOT PART WITH SUCH POWER.”

“Power you can’t even use,” Loki reminded him. “Not here. If you lend me the sword, I will free you in Asgard. I know that’s what you desire.”

Surtur frowned, considering this. “WHAT USE WILL THE SWORD BE TO YOU?”

“A threat upon the Nine Worlds I wish to eliminate.”

“YOU WOULD EXCHANGE ONE THREAT FOR ANOTHER?”

“Whether that threat be you or the Serpent is up to you. While we sit here arguing, the Serpent gains more control over Midgard. And your chances of escape wither away with it.”

Loki knew that was the truth, and it irked him that he was right. The longer he stood here talking to this big dumb beast, the harder it would be to save them all.

Surtur was begrudgingly silent. “I DO NOT TRUST YOU,” he admitted. “BUT I DO NOT TRUST ANY. YOU MAY HAVE THE SWORD UPON YOUR LIFE YOU WILL DELIVER ME TO ASGARD.”

A smirk pulled at Loki’s lip. “Deal.”    

Finally, the sword was his and the only cost was a lie.

 

 

 

 


End file.
